Amity

Chapter 53: Until Next Time

"Rise and shine, little chump," Isaiah said to Dre as he groggily stumbled out of his room. Dre looked to have seen better days, with his hair jutting out around his head and over his face. Isaiah's face had soften as he asked Dre, "How you feeling?"

"Like I was just halfway beaten to death," Dre muttered as he wiped his eyes.

"That makes sense," Isaiah said with a sullen nod. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, bro. If I'd known what you were getting into, I would've helped you out there in a heartbeat." The grief in his voice was as evident in his voice as it was on his face. "I should've been there."

"You couldn't have known about what would happen. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"But if you had died-"

"I'm still breathing, bro," Dre interrupted, firmly grasping Isaiah's shoulder. "I may not look as tough as you or Loyalty, but I'm still a Wolf." Isaiah looked up at his brother's smiling face, forcing a grin on his. "Did mom and dad leave already?"

"Yeah. They left earlier. Mom told me to tell you that she was proud of your restraint for not killing old dude." Dre couldn't help but to feel guilty for his mom's pride, feeling that it was stolen from her since Hiro was the one in control. "So that dude you fought wasn't Aggaron?"

"No, but we saw him. I still can't believe what happened," he added in a hushed voice, as if he was talking to himself. "I could barely even hurt Abraham, and yet Aggaron easily killed him with one hand."

Both brothers were silent for a moment. Both heads were lowered, thinking of what they could do. Finally, Isaiah said, "That just means that we have to train harder if we want to win this war." He raised his head, determination flowing filling his eyes like water in a parched man's canteen. "Uncle Marcus told me about a group he's in called the Kurai Elites. They're like a band of assassins hired by the sages, or something. I'm gonna join them. Unc said that training'll be hell, but it'll be worth it in the end. If this happens again, I'll be there fighting beside you."

"Funny. I thought you'd be the first person running away."

"You're a hater, man, I swear," Isaiah called as Dre went into his room to get dressed. His brother's words flowed through his head as he buttoned up his shirt. From here on out, things were going to be harder. The stakes would grow higher and higher the closer he got to Aggaron's revival. Even though he hated fighting, even though he hated confrontation, Dre knew that he'd have to be strong. For his friends. For his family.

For his people.

"Yo Dre! Your girl's out here!" Isaiah called.

Slipping into his boots, Dre slung his backpack over a shoulder and marched out the door, ready to show the world the resolve the King of Elements really had. Closing the door behind him, he saw Samantha walk towards the front of her pearly-white luxury car, her blonde hair swaying with the wind. Her beauty was enough to convince a pacifist to challenge an army just for her acknowledgement. Dre shook the thought out of his head as he stepped off the wooden porch. "Hi, Samantha," he said with a wave. He couldn't hide the dread in his voice as she got out.

Samantha eyed him down, tisking as she shook her head. "No, that won't do."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She made her way towards her. "Your clothes. Your hair. Your eyes. They all've got to change. Come. I've got some clothes for you to change into in the backseat."

This is it, Dre. You're a new man. You're the King of Elements. You're a Wolf. A warrior. Tell her off and finally show that resolve that's been hiding deep inside.

Swallowing his fear, he spoke. "No."

Samantha looked perplexed. "No what?"

"I'm not changing for you, not anymore. Not my appearance, not the people I talk to, not myself. If you want someone different from me, then you're better off not even talking to me."

She scowled at him with an expression of both pain and anger. Grief cut through him like a bolder cutting through a river, until Dre looked into her eyes. The whites of her eyes looked to have turned black, and her emerald green eyes shifted to golden-yellow. He took a step back as he fed his elemancy through his body. Instead of lunging for his throat, Samantha only said, "Fine then. Walk to school." She slammed her car door and sped off.

Dre exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding, relaxing his elemancy as he watched her go. He wasn't sure of what he'd seen in her eyes, but that didn't matter to him now. His thoughts were only set on what he'd accomplished. "I did it," he said to himself with a smile. "I finally told her off." His smile waned as he truly realized what he'd done. "I told off my girlfriend. Probably the only one I'll have until I'm at least in my forties. And I have to get Isaiah to take me to school." He slumped his shoulders as he made his way back to the house.

~~~~

Samantha skidded to a halt at the stop sign near the end of Hall Street. There, she released the anger building up in her heart. She could feel the control slipping of her disguise, making her rage boil over. Her teeth morphed into jagged, almost shark-like razors, her eyes black and gold. Her manicured nails stretched out to the lengths of an eagle's talon. Pointed ears replaced her small, rounded ones. Silver streams spilled out of her eyes; the silver tears of a Siren princess. She beat the flat of her fist onto the steering wheel until she could hear the wood finish crackle, cursing at herself with each blow. It didn't make any since. Her grandmother was the Siren Queen, mighty enough to control an army of men. Why, then, could she only control two men at a time? Why wasn't she as strong as her grandmother? She'd give anything, sacrifice anything, for her grandmother's power.

She felt a hand pat her shoulder. "There, there," a young boy's voice soothed. Eyes widened, she snapped her attention to the passenger's seat, finding a deathly-pale boy sitting beside her, dressed in a dark cloak that seemed to flow on its own merit. His eyes were covered by his matted hair. "You may not be as strong as you would like at the moment, but that will change now that I am here."